Edgartown Police put halt to one-man crime spree

Edgartown Police arrested a Mattapan man Saturday who, they said, was responsible for a virtual one-man thievery spree from Chappaquiddick to Aquinnah.

Keon Ebron, 23, was arraigned in Edgartown District Court Monday for breaking and entering a vehicle during nighttime to commit a felony; receiving stolen property over $250; larceny from a building; and 12 counts of larceny under $250.

Detective Michael Snowden said the case began on August 10, when officer Stephanie Immelt went to the Chappy Store, the small commercial outpost on Edgartown’s island community that is also used as a package drop-off by UPS and FedEx. She went to investigate a report by owner Gerald Jeffers of missing and molested packages.

On August 11, Officer Immelt returned to the store. According to the police report, Mr. Jeffers was upset. Up all night thinking about the stolen packages, he had begun looking around his property and discovered a missing bird book inside a trash bag in his garbage bin.

Officer Immelt and Mr. Jeffers began looking in trash bags. They found several empty UPS boxes and other evidence that led them to conclude an employee was responsible for the thefts.

The employees, who include Mr. Jeffers’s daughter, his grandaughter, Nefititi Jette of Aquinnah, the store manager, and Keon Ebron, the brother of Ms. Jette’s boyfriend, agreed to be interviewed, according to the police report. Ms. Jette also agreed to allow her house in Aquinnah and her car to be searched.

Mr. Ebron, who does not have a prior police record, according to Detective Snowden, at first said he did not know anything but then admitted he had done something “stupid,” and taken a puzzle of the Titanic, police said.

“Keon eventually admitted to taking the other boxes, and in the end stated he believed he took between 10 to 15 UPS boxes… Keon said he took a light blue digital camera and sold it to a Jamaican guy named Sanje at the Seafood Shanty for $50. He admitted to taking candles that he used. He told us we could find at Nefititi’s house where he was staying, an am-fm radio, a door alarm, a bird book, a networking book and a sailing book.”

He then began detailing more thefts to police, according to Ms. Immelt’s report.

“Keon slowly remembered other items he stole and stated to Officer Snowden it was hard to remember because he was high from marijuana and drinking. He told me he stole a credit card machine and didn’t know what to do with it and threw it in the woods during the rain storm the night before, while biking from Vineyard Haven to Aquinnah. He stated he took a pair of Calvin Klein black stretchy pants, matching earrings, and tossed them somewhere in the woods while riding his bike. Keon remembered also taking a bunch of work gloves and a pair of motorcycle style gloves, and stated he tossed those also. Keon stated that he didn’t keep much of what he took and remembered also taking the contact lenses.”

With Ms. Jette’s assistance, police located items in her vehicle where Mr. Ebron had sat, including a school ID police used to solve a car break-in in Oak Bluffs.

“Keon admitted to going into the vehicle and taking the items,” Officer Immelt said. “He told him (Sgt. Ken Johnson) he felt bad because she had an apron from Sharky’s, and he was supposed to interview tonight for a job there.”

During a followup search of the house where he slept on a couch, police found various checks from residents of Edgartown, West Tisbury, and Boston. Police arrested Mr. Ebron. He was held at the jail on $2,000 bail.

Detective Snowden invited anyone missing packages, particularly on Chappy, to call police. “There may be victims out there we don’t know about,” he said.